Ministers' alliance looks to help locals

Saturday

Mar 30, 2013 at 12:01 AM

While out on the campaign trail before municipal elections in March, former Bunnell city commissioner Daisy Henry saw a need in the community.

AARON LONDONSTAFF WRITER

BUNNELL — While out on the campaign trail before municipal elections in March, former Bunnell city commissioner Daisy Henry saw a need in the community. On March 23, members of the Alliance of Involved Ministers, with some help from employees of Champion Storage, got together to clean up a yard on Church Street. "I saw the yard needed to be cleaned," Henry said. "My nephew Chester Henry works for Champion and they wanted to do something in the community." The result was adding a little more shine to the county seat. But bringing something special to the community is nothing new for the group, known by the acronym AIM. "We work with the city too," said Daisy Henry, a pastor. "We take care of a street." The group has "adopted" Anderson Street as a project and works to keep it as clean as possible. The group's primary focus, however, is the county's youth. According to its mission statement, AIM's goal is "to provide outreach programs for at-risk youth and their families by changing the criminal and immoral elements" and to "uplift the child's productivity through education, economical and social course of the lives of minority and disadvantaged youths in Flagler County." One of the organization's biggest projects is a summer camp, Henry said. "It's free to the community and it's funded through donations," she said. Henry said the eight-week camp takes place after the end of the school year and has grown over the past couple of years. "The first year we were kind of small," she said. "But last year we had 83 enrolled and 43 stayed throughout the program." The group also helped to bring computers to disadvantaged youth in the community, giving out 25 refurbished units after the summer camp in 2011. Bunnell City Manager Armando Martinez, one of the co-founders of the organization, said members are making a difference in the city. "This idea was brought to me by (retired Bunnell police chief) Arthur Jones," he said. "We both thought it was a great idea." Martinez said getting the community, including local pastors, involved with local youth is the focus of the Alliance. "They go out in the street and are proactive and have people turn away from drugs and a life of crime," he said. "We also try to provide mentorship for these kids. We try to break the cycle." More information about the Alliance of Involved Ministers is available online at allianceofinvolvedministers.com.